Dominick Argento is widely considered to be one of Americas leading composers of lyric opera and choral music. The two major song cycles on this recording demonstrate Argentos flair for setting unusual texts to music. From the Diary of Virginia Woolf, which won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for Music, is based on eight of the writers confessional journal entries, while The Andrée Expedition sets diaries and letters from an ultimately tragic balloon expedition to the North Pole in 1897.

She holds his diary in her hand. Its contents terrify her, What is the awful tale it tells. She knows she must read it to see what is hidden. Can she bring herself to do so. She hides it away and passes responsibility to another.

This work offers a new portrayal of Queen Maria Carolina of Naples as a woman of power with weaknesses and ambitions, and analyzes the Queen's actions, from her political choices to her alliance and betrayals.

As the "Green Police" search for Jews on the streets of Amsterdam, a young girl named Anne (Millie Perkins), her parents Otto and Edith (Joseph Schildkraut and Gusti Huber) and another family retreat for two years to the small attic of shop owners Kraler and Miep (Douglas Spencer and Dody Heath). Despite being confined to a small area and having no contact with the outside world, the families go on with their lives to the best of their ability.

This work offers a new portrayal of Queen Maria Carolina of Naples as a woman of power with weaknesses and ambitions, and analyzes the Queen's actions, from her political choices to her alliance and betrayals.